Fair correction on the altitude (still in the lower bounds of the balloons, as I mentioned).
Fair correction on the altitude (still in the lower bounds of the balloons, as I mentioned). The SR-71 already flew in the configuration I mentioned. It's the YF-12C (a converted SR-71). Recovering and converting another sure is more expensive than one missile, but it's a reusable platform. A ground missile able to reach those balloons is more expensive than a modernized SR-71 sortie. High-altitude, precision missiles are also not allocated for this task. China can launch dozens of balloons for cheap, and spending one multi-million-dollar missile on each is insanity. Even the long range air-to-air ones are too expensive for that. The SR-71 (as a new YF-12D interceptor) makes more sense. It can take multiple balloons in one flight with cheap shorter range air-to-air missiles (or maybe even cheaper weapons, for a balloon a laser would do), then go home and do that over and over again.
Posted by gaigalas on Oct 4, 2026, 6:34 AM
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Raise real-world problems, find people facing the same issue, and discuss solutions.2,000 issues0 comments
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Yeah, the plan is far too expensive for what it provides.
NewCrashed demand after one of the big AI labs (probably Anthropic because they focus way too hard on expensive frontier models) become inso...
New/dev/random is much too expensive for this.
Yeah, this always bugged me.
A year ago, I had the opinion that it'd be too expensive for developers to support offline mode, peer to peer, or community servers after...
The weird thing about this product is that its biggest competitor is "an old ipad." I feel like most of their target customer base alread...
There's a talk from Travis Kalanick recently on a podcast about this.
>nobody ever bought German cars for their low prices, except the Beetle Huh?
Fair correction on the altitude (still in the lower bounds of the balloons, as I mentioned).
Fair correction on the altitude (still in the lower bounds of the balloons, as I mentioned). The SR-71 already flew in the configuration I mentioned. It's the YF-12C (a converted SR-71). Recovering and converting another sure is more expensive than one missile, but it's a reusable platform. A ground missile able to reach those balloons is more expensive than a modernized SR-71 sortie. High-altitude, precision missiles are also not allocated for this task. China can launch dozens of balloons for cheap, and spending one multi-million-dollar missile on each is insanity. Even the long range air-to-air ones are too expensive for that. The SR-71 (as a new YF-12D interceptor) makes more sense. It can take multiple balloons in one flight with cheap shorter range air-to-air missiles (or maybe even cheaper weapons, for a balloon a laser would do), then go home and do that over and over again.
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